SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs

The best online PlayStation 2 game yet. 'Nuff said.

The SOCOM series is arguably Sony's most important franchise in its portfolio. While games like Gran Turismo and such may have garnered more total sales and critical praise (not that SOCOM is lacking in either), the series has been the most important series thus far in getting PlayStation 2 gamers to pick up a Network Adaptor and take their consoles online.

Zipper Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment are now set to release the third game in the series, SOCOM 3: U. S. Navy SEALs. While SOCOM II may have sort of felt like an expansion pack to the original game, with some expected improvements and additions not quite making their way to the first sequel, SOCOM 3 is packed to the brim with new features, content, game types and more that will no doubt quench the parched thirst of SOCOM fans everywhere.

SOCOM 3 is bigger and better than the previous two titles in almost every way. New additions like vehicles, much larger environments, a better singleplayer campaign and more have done a lot to essentially polish off a series that has always been this close to being something really special.

The series has always had tight controls, and SOCOM 3 is no different. The layout and feel of movement is top-notch, with its analog control movement and look easily on par with other AAA system sellers like Halo. Quick and easy access to things like soldier commands is a cinch through its tiered command structure. We'd still like to see a slightly quicker and more natural way to switch through weapons, but aside from that the series has essentially nailed its overall feel, which is obviously of utmost importance.

Vehicles One of the two biggest and most important additions the game makes to the SOCOM franchise is the ability to pilot vehicles. SOCOM 3 features roughly 20 transports you can commandeer, like Humvees, tanks, jeeps, convoy trucks, assault boats... the list goes on and on. Each vehicle has multiple ride points, many with mounted turrets or open weapons holes, meaning that other soldiers can hop and act not only as passengers but as a collective mobile unit of death.

All of the vehicles feel great to drive and are a blast to use while either squishing enemy soldiers beneath your tires or gunning them down from a moving gun turret. We've never driven a tank or many of the other vehicles in SOCOM 3 in real life, so we can only guess as to their real-world accuracy, but the variation with regards to speed, handling and overall feel between the vehicles is great. A basic jeep handles totally unlike a Humvee which of course handles totally unlike a tank. We're not talking Gran Turismo accuracy here with regards to physics and whatnot, but the vehicles are fun stuff nonetheless.

The bigger and deadlier units, like tanks, generally require multiple troops working together to take them out. As you'll essentially have to work together to take out something like a tank, and as it's both simple and beneficial to give other passengers a ride when you take off after spawning, the inclusion of vehicles oddly helps to encourage the use of squads. Most every veteran of tactical war shooters already knows the benefits of scouting in groups, but the vehicles actually help guide new players into squads as well. Designers usually draw a fine line between forcing players into squads, sometimes designing the game around some sort of requirement for this (even if said "requirement" is just a score bonus), but SOCOM 3 does a great job of encouraging it without actually requiring it. If you're on your own against a tank though, run your ass off.

Another example of Zipper encouraging teamwork without necessarily requiring it is one of the new online gametypes, Convoy. In it, the terrorists must move one of two convoy trucks to a pickup zone, pickup whatever sort of illegal goods they're interested in moving, and then get at least one of them through the exit zone in order to win. Convoy helps encourage teamwork on the terrorist side as you're heading towards one of the static pickup points and there are bound to be SEALs about, so you're going to need help defending the truck. While it may be possible to win this one alone, it's highly unlikely it'll happen very often, so loners will probably set off by themselves to take out the amassing SEALs. Again, the new addition of vehicles helps to form squads.